Pelumi's Memoirs - 47

Well, if friends with their fancy persuasion
Don't admit that it's part of a scheme
Then I can't help but have my suspicions
Cause I ain't quite as dumb as I seem
And you said you was never intending
To break up our scene in this way
But there ain't any use in pretending
It could happen to us any day

- Ace, 1975

****

“This is quite serious,” Itoro said, shifting in her seat. Pelumi had been crying since she got home that evening. 

“You are going to fall sick if you keep crying like this.” Itoro reprimanded. “They are still investigating so let us remain positive. I'm sure that your name will be cleared.”

“Me, steal 25 million Naira from a company? What would I do with all that money? They said the money was transferred to a corporate account in my mother's name. Itoro how?” Pelumi pulled a tissue from the box that Itoro had placed beside her to wipe her running nose. 

Her cell phone rang in that instant. She looked at the screen and saw it was her mother calling. She was not in the right frame of mind to pick her mum's call.  When her phone started ringing again, she knew that she had to pick it up. 

“What's the matter?” Ada Opara asked. “Why is your voice so low?” Pelumi could not hold back her tears and she began to narrate her ordeal to her mum. 

 “The devil is a liar! No wonder I've been having these weird dreams of you. Pelumi, I know you did not steal any money. I didn't raise a thief! You know what, let us pray.” Pelumi turned on the speaker of her phone and Itoro joined Pelumi in saying Amen.

“Just be calm and stay positive. All will be well. Just know that.”

Pelumi nodded, sniffing. She admired her mother’s faith. She couldn’t remember the last time that she’d prayed. She mumbled a few words before she left for work every day. She had dedicated her life to Christ as a child, but she had not walked the path. She rarely went to church nor read the scriptures.

She hung up after her mother cut the call. “You needed to have seen the look on Ivan's face. He had this bland expression almost like he didn't believe me.”

“Hmm... Pelumi. I wouldn't want us to jump into any conclusions at this point. Besides, your mind is muddled up now. Go and take a shower, I will make you a cup of chamomile tea. You need to show up to work strong tomorrow. Don't let them see you sweat.”

“Do you want me to warm up some of the leftover jollof rice for you ?”

Pelumi hesitated. She didn’t have any appetite. “No, the tea is fine. Thank you.”

Later that night, she got on her knees and prayed, asking God to help her.

In the morning, she chose to wear a white and black polka dot shirt on black trousers. She didn't feel like going to work but she summoned courage. Itoro volunteered to drop her off at work.  

 Later in the day at work, they called her for more questioning, and she answered their questions to the best of her ability.

“We looked at the signature on the account and it matches up exactly with yours.” One of the men on the panel said to her.

“Well, anyone can forge another person's signature!” Pelumi stated heatedly. “Surely, you know that!”

One of the men squinted at her and she shuddered. She had never been accused of something of this magnitude before.

“You may take your leave.” A lady who had been peering at her through her glasses said to her.

 When she got to her desk, she saw a missed call on her work phone.

“Is everything okay?” Fola asked her. “You've been looking morose since yesterday.”

Pelumi managed to smile at him a little. How could she tell her colleagues that she was being investigated for theft? 

"It will be." She answered.

 Zainab took a long hard look at her colleague. She could tell that something was wrong. 

Five minutes later, Pelumi's work phone rang. She cleared her throat and picked it up. "Pelumi Jacobs...."

 "Hi, Pelumi. My name is Larissa from HR. Could you please meet me on the third floor?"

Pelumi heaved. "Sure." She managed to reply.

"Pelumi, the Company has decided that you'll have to be placed on suspension for now since the investigation is ongoing."

Pelumi could feel the tears threatening to fall. “Sus...Suspension?” She stuttered like she had not heard what the lady had just said to her.

"O...Okay.." She stammered.

 "You have to turn in your work laptop and ID card."

 Pelumi sighed. "Is this effective immediately?" She asked.

 "I'm sorry. Yes." Larissa replied.

Zainab and Fola asked more questions when they saw Pelumi clearing her desk.

 "I have been accused of something I do not know of. I need to get out of here. I can’t say anything more."

Alistair and her new manager came over later. "I didn't do it." She said to Alistair.

 "We'll get to the root of this." He said reassuringly. "For now, we have to follow the due process."

 "I understand," Pelumi said, handing over her laptop and ID card to her manager.

 Zainab and Fola looked on with pity.

“Zainab, what exactly did Pelumi do? I can’t believe this.” Fola said, flabbergasted.

Zainab spread her palms. “I have no idea, Fola.”

Pelumi hastened away from the building and scheduled an Uber.  She looked at the building as the driver pulled away from the Ferguson & Fletcher premises.

 She wondered what the future held and how long she would be investigated. She wondered who was behind all this and what they stood to gain. Fear found its way into her heart. She had no access to the said account that the money had been wired into. She could not pay back 25 million Naira. Where was she going to find that much money? If she had to grovel and beg Ivan and his family, she would. She would not survive in Prison. Her mother would be shattered.

 “Oh, Lord!” She cried silently, wiping her tears away. She peered at the driver. He seemed lost in his thoughts.

****

Tare paced around Ivan's office. “Ivan, do you think she did it? I know Pelumi. She does not seem like that kind of person. Larissa just confirmed that she has turned in her ID card and laptop.”

Ivan swiveled his chair. He had been thinking deeply about everything since he had first heard about the matter. He knew Pelumi. She was not a thief. However, the evidence against her was damning.

But why would she do something like that? What did she stand to gain? He was conflicted.

“Tare, I would be lying if I said any of this makes sense. It does not and it feels like a dream. Pelumi and I are engaged for crying out loud!”

Tare paced again before sitting on the chair across from Ivan. “Something in my gut tells me that someone is behind all of this. But who?”

Ivan scratched his stubble. “Gosh! This is so messed up! How could money just disappear from the company accounts in this way? Too many grey areas in all of this!”

“I agree,” Tare remarked. “Do you think that the accounts were hacked?”

 “My gut tells me so. I hate that Pelumi has to go on suspension without pay!”  Ivan stated, clearly rattled.

 “Mind-boggling,” Tare said.

 Liyel walked in. “I heard Pelumi has been suspended.”

 “Yeah, Sadly,” Tare said. 

“Hmmm,” Liyel said thoughtfully. “I don't believe that Pelumi is capable of doing something like this.”

 Ivan kneaded his temple. He didn't know what to think. His heart went out to Pelumi but the evidence was incriminating. 

 “You can't be seen around with Pelumi in times like this. It will not look good.” Tare admonished. 

“I agree,” Liyel said. 

“That'll be hard. If I weren't CEO, I'd probably not give a damn. “

“Yeah, you broke the ‘don't date a coworker code’.”

“Yeah, go ahead and rub it in, Liyel.” Ivan retorted. “Everything is a joke to you.”

“I'm sorry,” Liyel said.

****

Later that evening, Pelumi stood aside to let Ivan into the sitting room. 

“Hi,” Ivan said to her.

“Hi.” She replied, averting her gaze so that she would not have to look at him.

“How are you?” He questioned, though she could see that her eyes were puffy.

She shrugged. “So so…”

“I don’t know anything about that corporate account they said is in my mother’s name.”

Ivan kept quiet for about a minute. “I was told there were two signatories to the account. One of them is you and the other’s identity could not be traced. The signature on the account matches yours. All the information on the account also matches yours including your updated address.”

Pelumi heaved.

“Can you explain this?” Ivan asked.

“I can’t. Someone is trying to incriminate me.”

“But why would they? Do you have any enemies at the office?” Ivan pressed.

Pelumi shook her head. “I don’t know of any. I mean, I get along with everyone at work.”

Ivan leaned back in the chair he was sitting on. “I couldn’t do anything about you getting suspended. It’s the company’s policy…”

“I know… I had a feeling it would come to this.” Pelumi interjected.

Ivan stood and paced around the sitting room. “I can’t tell when next I’ll be seeing you in-person. I am the CEO of Ferguson & Fletcher. It will look bad on me if I’m seen around with you…”

Pelumi gasped.

Ivan turned back sharply. “Are you okay?”

Pelumi took a sip of water. “I guess I didn’t think that it would come to this.”

 “I’m sorry….” Ivan said regretfully. “I hope that we can get this sorted soon.”

“What happens if it’s not?” Pelumi asked with her arms folded across her chest.

“I don’t know. I am on top of this. I’ll make sure that it’s sorted soon.”

“Thank you,” Pelumi said sheepishly.

 “I’ll take my leave now,” Ivan said, looking at the door.

“Okay, let me walk you downstairs…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Ivan told her.

Ivan was the cuddly type. He found opportunities to hug her. Tonight, he had not attempted to hug her and Pelumi wondered if this was the beginning of the end of their relationship.

****

 A month later….

 Liyel walked down the stairs with his suitcases. After a long wait, the Year of the Comeback was finally here and he looked forward to an amazing time with his friends in Seychelles, The Maldives, and Kenya.

“Do you think Idris Elba will be joining the crew?” He had asked his friend, Kene.

“I think so. I think he’ll be there.” Kene had told him.

 He was looking forward to meeting American celebrities and networking with them. He had already imagined the tremendous business opportunities that would come out of it. Ferguson & Fletcher was about to become even bigger. Their competitors had no idea what was about to hit them!

“Lemme help you with that.” Ivan walked down the stairs and grabbed one of Liyel’s boxes.

“Thanks, bro.”

“Damn, Liyel! Why is this suitcase so heavy?”

“A friend gave me some works of art. He wants me to help him sell some of them.”

“Oh okay… I hope you’ll be paid a hefty commission for your labor of love?”

Liyel chuckled. “We’ll see about it.”

Celeste’s image flashed in his mind while putting his suitcase in the car’s boot. He had not gotten a chance to ask her if she wanted to come on the trip before she broke things off with him. They had not spoken in over a month and a part of him missed her but oh well, he was going to have massive fun on this trip. He had been celibate months before he had started dating Celeste again. He could only hold out for so long. His heart was broken, and he had been drinking a lot lately, howbeit in the comfort of his house. He did not have the energy for clubbing these days. But on this trip, anything was possible. He would have lots of fun and think about the consequences later.

 “Penny for your thoughts?” Ivan asked.

“Just looking forward to all the fun I’m going to be having.”

“I’m jealous, you know,” Ivan replied. “I need a break too. This past month has been tough.”

“I know.” Liyel nodded.

Pelumi had just been fired. The team dedicated to investigating her case had completed their investigations. They had involved the services of both a programmer and a hacker who had helped to penetrate the systems to track the source codes and the receiving nodes of the mysterious wire transfers. 

According to the investigation, the stolen funds seemed to have been bounced from one account to another, but the final account destination was Ada Opara & Co, Corporation. Everything pointed to the fact that Pelumi was guilty as charged and that she had gotten some help with the fraudulent wire transfers.

Theft at the company was not something they took lightly but since Ivan was engaged to her, they wanted to avoid any negative publicity.  They were able to recover 15 million Naira out of the stolen money. That was all they found in the account.

There had been two options. One was to charge Pelumi to court and have her face the full brunt of the law. The other had been to return the stolen money and exit the company. Ivan had paid the missing 10 million to the company and a decision was made to fire Pelumi. With everything that had happened, there was no way that she could remain an employee at the Company.

“Have you heard from Pelumi in recent times?” Liyel quizzed.

“No,” Ivan said curtly.

“She seemed like such a sweet person…”

“Drop it, Liyel! Can we talk about something else?”

Liyel took a brief look at his brother and he saw him working his jaw. These days, Pelumi’s name was forbidden in their midst. Nearly two months ago, the story had been different. Everything was looking up for him and Ivan. Ivan had thrown himself into work, working harder with each passing day. He knew that he was trying to get things off his mind. Ivan took that route when he was seeking a way of escape.

The speakers in Ivan’s car boomed loudly.

“It’s dad,” Liyel chuckled.

Ivan pressed the answer button on the touch dashboard.

 “Hi, Pops…” Ivan greeted.

“Is Liyel with you? I just called his cell phone now, but he didn’t answer it.”

“Shoot!” Liyel said loudly. “Hi, dad. Sorry, my phone is silent. I didn’t hear it ring. Yeah, we are on our way to the Airport. Ivan is dropping me off.”

After cutting the call, he smiled. Their dad preferred face to face communication. He didn’t call as often as their mum. Still, he was glad to know that his father had called just to wish him safe travels. This trip better be a good one!

****

It was a Thursday and Pelumi went into the kitchen, searching for what to eat. She had been home for a few weeks and had gained weight from her food bingeing. She had never been an emotional eater but these days, she found comfort in eating everything in sight.

She felt empty on the inside. She had lost not only her job but her engagement to Ivan was also off the table. Ivan had let she and Itoro continue staying in his property since their lease was for a year . She had cried and stopped when it seemed that she had no more tears left inside her. Instead, she had turned to food.

Now and then, she heard the voice that told her, “come unto me all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens and I will give you rest.” Where was she going to start? 

She had been saving to buy a car and she had been this close to buying it before the life-altering event happened.

Itoro and her mother had advised her to start applying to other jobs, but she had remained hesitant. What if they conducted a background check and discovered that she had been fired for theft? She felt very unemployable. She still wondered who had framed her up in such a manner! Could it be Remi or did any of Ivan’s past girlfriends have anything to do with what happened to her?

It was a weekday and here she was doing nothing with her life! “God please, if you are real, like truly real, please make a way for me. Please let me find another job. Make a way, Lord. Fix my life.” She prayed. Sometimes, she wondered if her stepfather was gloating at her decline. She doubted it because he sounded nice to her on the phone these days. His tone was usually sympathetic.

“Unto thee, Oh Lord, do I lift my soul… Oh my God, I trust in you. Let me not be ashamed.” She sang.

She thought about visiting Aunt Kema. She had been dodging her since she was fired from work and she had made Itoro promise not to say a word to Naetochukwu. But now, she felt like she could use a change of environment. Maybe she would get a new perspective and clarity on what next to do with her life.

She remembered the day that she had gone to speak with Ivan at home, shortly after she was fired.

She knew what time he worked out on Saturday morning and what time he got back home. Her calculation had been right because the gate-man confirmed that he and Liyel were home.

Liyel had greeted her cheerfully though reservedly. She had sat in their sitting room waiting for Ivan while Liyel made breakfast in the kitchen. When Ivan joined her downstairs, Liyel made himself scarce until she left.

“You don’t call me anymore…” She had said to Ivan, her heart broken.

“I called you two weeks ago,” Ivan had replied sharply.

“You used to call me nearly every day.” She had said to him.

“Yeah, well, things have changed.” He responded.

“You believe I did it, don’t you?” When Ivan did not reply to her, she asked the question again.

“Pelumi, Ferguson & Fletcher means a lot to me and my family. You know that don’t you?” Ivan responded.

“So, you are choosing the Company over me?”

“Ivan had shrugged. “What do you want me to do? I have a responsibility to my family and the company.”

She could see the determination in his features. Where was the man who had promised her undying love? She wasn’t just anyone, she was the girl he was getting married to. Anger coursed through her because she had tried without success to reach him in the past weeks. His replies were usually monosyllabic when she texted. She was tired. She needed some respite.

She eyed the ring on her finger and took one final look at it. “Is our engagement off?” Ivan had stood with his back to her. She asked again.

“Pelumi, can we talk about this some other time?” She stood and walked up to him. “No,” She yelled. “I want to talk about this now. Once and for all!”

“Our engagement is off, isn’t it?”

After a few seconds of pause, Ivan confirmed her worst fears. “Yes.” He said to her quietly. She had been a fool to think that she belonged in his world. She had a feeling that she had been targeted at work  because of her engagement to Ivan. Nobody gave her the memo on dating coworkers, let alone the CEO of the company that she worked in.”

“I thought that you would stand by me. I thought that you would move mountains to see to it that my name was cleared. I thought that you would fight for our love. Oh! I’m a big fool.” She took off the ring and placed it on the center table. She could take anything but not the disdain of someone who she was supposed to be marrying in a few months.

She picked up her bag and walked briskly away from Ivan, his home, and whatever he stood for.

The sound of a birding chirping around the balcony area jolted her to the present-day reality.

****

Nkoyo grabbed her notepad and ran towards the Passaic meeting room. She had been having a running stomach all day and had to quickly dash to the restroom shortly before the meeting commenced. What she did not know was the fact that she would have to spend twenty minutes emptying the contents of her stomach. She hoped that she would be okay while in the meeting room. 

When she walked into the Passaic room, everyone’s eyes were on her. “Sorry,” She mouthed wordlessly.

Toye looked at her but did not say anything. “Go ahead, Yvonne.” He said to the lady who was doing her presentation.

After much thinking, she had finally decided that it was time to move on from Daugherty Engineering. She had spoken to Toye recently about her promotion and he told her that although she did good work, he did not think that she was ripe for a promotion. That had been the straw that broke the camel’s back. After two years in her current role, she was ready to move on in her career. She intended to put in her two weeks notice after the meeting. She had started working right after graduating from the University of Lagos unlike many of her friends who had traveled to the UK for their Masters’ program. She looked forward to having some free time where she could do anything she wanted. Perhaps, she would travel out of the country on a short course while researching various Universities and their Masters’ program. Maybe she would even make herself available at Ferguson & Fletcher, studying the processes and examining areas in which she could contribute.

 “Sir, I’d like to speak with you for a few minutes.” She told Toye once several people had walked away from the Passaic room.

“Okay, can we talk in my office like in the next thirty minutes?” Toye replied.

“Sure,” Nkoyo said, before walking out of the meeting room.

 “I’ll be moving on from Daugherty Engineering.” She said to her manager thirty minutes later. She stood explaining with her arms folded in front of her.

“Why?” Toye asked her. Nkoyo looked at him briefly before she averted her gaze. If her manager was surprised, he did not show it.

She turned to look at him again. “I feel it’s time for me to move on.”

“Have you gotten any new job opportunity?”

Nkoyo wanted to say yes but she did not want to lie. “I’ll find one.”

“So why are you leaving?” Toye asked her again.

Her manager had to be kidding her! Acting like he did not know why she was leaving.

Toye took a long look at her. Nkoyo was a reliable employee. She was super brilliant and took her job seriously. He knew that. All along, he had been fighting himself and his growing attraction towards her. With everything going on in his life, he had not known how to handle things. She had asked for a promotion recently and though he had downplayed her request initially, he had been mulling over it. He only needed to make a strong case for her, and she would be promoted.

“If I offered you the promotion you had asked for earlier, would you still stay?” Toye asked, narrowing his eyes.

 “Douche bag!” Nkoyo thought. So, it had to take her leaving for him to see her value. No way she was going to keep being an employee at Daugherty Engineering.

“No,” She smirked and saw her manager’s eyes widen. “Good! Now you know I mean business.” She thought.

Toye leaned back in his chair. Retaining talent, especially top talent was crucial at the Company. It was in his goals and objectives as a manager and he had failed. He tried to think of ways to get her to stay. 

“Sit,” He motioned with his hand and watched Nkoyo sit across from him.

“You and I got off on the wrong footing. I’m sorry. I know I have been a jerk.”

Nkoyo smirked again. “So, you know!” She thought.

“My father is sick,” Toye stated before pausing.

“And how does that concern me?” Nkoyo thought, trying to not roll her eyes.

“He has pancreatic cancer and does not have much time left.”

Now she felt sorry for him.

“Cancer is a disease that puts one on a roller coaster. One minute they tell you that all the cancer was caught during surgery and your hope arises. The next minute, you are told that the cancer has metastasized and nothing more can be done. My father went through surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. We were told that everything was under control. He started having coughing fits suddenly. We thought it was probably bronchitis. Imagine the shock when we discovered that the cancer had spread to his lungs. The doctors called it ‘pleural effusion’.”  He paused.

"Pleural effusion is a fancy terminology that means my father’s lungs is filled with water and could die any time from now."

“Oh no! I am so sorry,” Nkoyo said apologetically.

“No, I should be apologizing to you for everything,” Toye stated.

Nkoyo could not help feeling pity for the man who sat across from her. She could sense the heavy emotion in his words. Losing a parent, especially one you were close to was hard. She could not imagine what he must be going through.

“I am willing to get you your desired promotion and maybe we can even negotiate for a higher salary.”

Nkoyo smiled. “That’ll be nice.” She still wanted time off though. She had yet to use her annual leave.  A week off work would be great.

“I haven’t used my leave days this year. I’d like to take a week off starting Monday.”

Toye smiled. “Your wish is my command.”

Nkoyo smiled again. She could use a manager who was nice to her.

“You’ve been a fantastic employee. Can I buy you lunch one of these days?” Toye asked.

Nkoyo hesitated. This was new territory. Her manager wanted to buy her lunch.

“One of these days.” She replied.

“I will start the conversation with my Director on the need to get you promoted,” Toye reassured.

“Thank you, Sir. That will be great. Let me back to work.”

“Toye.” He said to her. You can address me by my first name.

“Noted, Sir.”

“Toye.” She corrected herself.

She stood and walked out of the room gracefully.